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Du Pont heir didn’t go to court-ordered clinic

A du Pont heir who raped his daughter was supposed to complete an intensive treatment program at an inpatient psychiatric clinic in Massachusetts as a condition of a sentence that allowed him to avoid prison time.

Du Pont heir didn’t go to court-ordered clinic

A du Pont heir who raped his daughter was supposed to complete an intensive treatment program at an inpatient psychiatric clinic in Massachusetts as a condition of a sentence that allowed him to avoid prison time.

But he never did, court records show.

Superior Court Judge Jan R. Jurden ordered probation for Robert H. Richards IV in February 2009, on the condition he be accepted for treatment at the expensive McLean Hospital near Boston, according to a transcript of the sentencing. Jurden agreed to probation only after the prosecutor argued the state typically would demand prison time in such child abuse cases, but was willing to accept probation because of the therapy Richards would receive at the out-of-state clinic.

Richards never went to McLean Hospital, Eugene J. Maurer Jr., his attorney at the time, said Tuesday. Richards instead remained in Delaware because of issues transferring his probation there and the fact that McLean did not have required security for an inmate such as Richards, Maurer said. Richards received treatment in Delaware under the supervision of probation officers.

Jurden has come under fire for sentencing Richards to probation and not prison, and for her notation that he “will not fare well” behind bars, one of the factors listed as a mitigating factor in her sentencing order. During the hearing, Jurden said she was willing to order probation for Richards because he planned to seek treatment at the Boston psychiatric program and had family support, two other mitigating factors also noted in her sentencing order.

Richards, 48, is the great-grandson of du Pont family patriarch Irenee du Pont and the son of Robert H. Richards III, a retired partner in the Richards Layton & Finger law firm.

“Very long journey”

The 16-page transcript provides details about why Richards was able to avoid prison in a case that has gained international attention since his ex-wife filed a civil lawsuit last month seeking damages for his sexual abuse of their daughter between the ages of 3 and 5.

The lawsuit also accused Richards of sexually abusing his toddler son during the same period, although police have said they investigated such claims in 2010 and did not file charges. The lawsuit claims Richards admitted abusing his son in statements outlined in probation reports later sent to Jurden.

Richards’ sentencing hearing had initially been set for August 2008 but was continued to December and finally held Feb. 6, 2009.

It began with Maurer telling Jurden that Richards had completed six weeks of treatment at the Keystone Center near Chester, Pa., which the lawyer said had cost “an inordinately large amount of money.” The facility offers residential treatment for various addictions, including sexual compulsion, according to its website.­

Maurer noted Richards’ “very long journey,” saying his client first “was denying his involvement, or minimizing his involvement in this situation.” He finally had “a bit of a breakthrough” and underwent an evaluation at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, which recommended the Keystone program.

Maurer said Richards was amendable to more treatment, and suggested two programs, one in Baltimore, the other in Massachusetts. He said Richards was remorseful, and said that “somewhere down the road” he wanted to reunite with his daughter.­

During the sentencing hearing, the prosecutor argued a number of factors that concerned her about Richards’ behavior, including that he tried to hide what he did to his daughter, blamed his wife and pornography for abusing her, and chose a specific type of sexual abuse “because there was less likelihood of getting caught.”

Richards was charged in October 2007 with two counts of second-degree rape, punishable by a minimum 20 years of prison if convicted. A New Castle County police affidavit accused him of digital penetration of his daughter.

Attorney General Beau Biden’s office indicted him on the same charges in January 2008. But in June of that year, days before a scheduled trial, prosecutor Renee Hrivnak allowed Richards to plead guilty to one count of fourth-degree rape, which carries no mandatory prison time with sentencing guidelines that recommend a sentence of zero to 30 months in prison.­

During the hearing, Hrivnak said the Massachusettes hospital — which “should be a five- to six-month program” — would offer Richards a therapy option that might help in the future and would protect his daughter.­

“I feel horrible”

Asked to explain the Massachusetts program by the judge, Maurer noted that Richards has “a bit of a psychiatric issue” and that McLean is a “long-term, inpatient psychiatric institution” that also could help him with “the sexual disorder.”

Jurden asked Richards if he had anything to say during the hearing.

“I feel horrible what I did to my daughter,” Richards said. “I feel very remorseful and very sad about what, the damage that I’ve done to her. There’s no excuse for what I’ve done to her. It’s horrible and, and I’d like probation, like Mr. Maurer has said.”

A call to Richards’ house Tuesday was answered by a woman. “Hold on. I’ll give it to him,” she said. Moments later, she returned to the phone and said, “He’s not available. We have no comment.”

Jurden gave Richards eight years in prison but suspended all eight years for Level II probation, which requires monthly visits with a probation officer. She ordered him held at Level III, which requires at least weekly contact with a probation officer, until he was sent to McLean.

Richards’ probation

Richards never went to McLean.

In June 2009, Maurer filed court papers that said he and Richards “have been advised that he is not permitted to leave the state to go to Massachusetts” for treatment. Maurer wrote that he didn’t know if that was because Delaware wouldn’t let him leave or Massachusetts refused to supervise Richards “due to the nature” of the crime.

To help Richards lawfully go to Massachusetts, Maurer asked Jurden to “temporarily suspend execution of the sentence.”

Hrivnak objected. She asked Jurden to hold a hearing on the matter.

That September, prior to a hearing, Maurer wrote to Jurden that the program at McLean was a “two-week intensive therapy program after which recommendations are made for further treatment.” He also noted McLean “is not a locked setting, so that there is not the level of security which might be desirable.”

Jurden finally modified the order in October 2012 to put Richards on Level II probation, where he remains today with a requirement to meet monthly with a probation officer.

Available records from the court file, however, show no further effort by anyone associated with the case to have Richards treated in Massachusetts, as the judge had required, and Hrivnak had sought as a condition to allow him to avoid prison. Court officials have released some records, but not all.